The present invention relates to an electrical connector. More specifically, the present invention relates to a connector socket used in conjunction with a connector plug.
Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a car stereo. A well-known method for preventing a car stereo from being stolen from a parked car involves a front panel Y that is detachable from a main stereo unit X. When the car is parked, front panel Y, on which buttons and the like are mounted, is removed and carried. A potential thief, looking through the car window fails to see a fully functional car stereo, and is thus discouraged from breaking into the car and stealing.
The dotted lines with double dashes in FIG. 5 illustrate an equipment with a removable hinge attached to one side of main stereo unit X, which is longer horizontally than vertically.
Referring to FIG. 6, a connector plug P and a connector socket S are disposed on front panel Y and main stereo unit X to provide electrical contact between main stereo unit X and front panel Y.
A connector socket S used in this manner includes a connector mold A that is longer horizontally than vertically. A horizontal plug insertion opening C is formed on the surface of connector mold A to receive a plug section B of connector plug P, which is attached to the back surface of front panel Y.
A plurality of connector pairs D1, D2 are disposed within connector mold A in a symmetrical arrangement relative to plug insertion opening C. Connectors D1, D2 include pressure-contact ends d1, which are able to come into contact with plug contacts b of plug section B.
Connector mold A is open on the side facing main stereo unit X. These contacts are mounted in connector mold A from the back side of connector mold A. Positioning projections are formed on attachment bases d2 and are fixed to attachment groove, E1, E2, which are disposed from front to back in connector mold A. Pressure-contact ends d1, which are continuous with U-shaped deformation absorbers d3, project inside plug insertion opening C.
In conventional contacts, external connection terminals d4 are bent vertically at right angles after attachment base d2 is attached to attachment grooves E1, E2. External connection terminals d4 are then soldered in main stereo unit X to the printed circuit substrate or the like to which connector mold A is fixed.
Some recent car stereos use a "bottom hinge" to attach front panel Y to main stereo unit X, as indicated in the dotted lines with single dashes from FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 6, connector socket S as described above increases the difficulty in providing electrical connection with front panel Y when a bottom hinge is used.
With a bottom hinge structure, plug section B of connector plug P is inserted into plug insertion opening C along an arcuate path having a center of rotation positioned toward the bottom. Thus, simply forming pressure-contact ends d1 on connectors DI, D2 does not allow pressure-contact ends d1 to adequately follow and be deformed during the arcuate travel on the complex insertion path of plug section B. Such inadequate deformation of pressure-contact ends d1 may result in bad contact between contacts with D1, D2.
One way to overcome this problem of bad contact is to provide greater flexure by making pressure-contact ends d1 of contacts DI, D2 more elastic. However, when plug section B is disengaged from plug insertion opening C, the friction between pressure-contact ends d1 and plug contacts 6U, 6L can cause pressure-contact ends d1 to be deformed, resulting in plastic deformation of contacts D1, D2. Increasing the elasticity of contacts D1, D2 makes this problem worse.